In 2011, 62,500 photovoltaic systems were installed, according to the survey, and a total of 1,500 megawatts were added to the grid. That is 120 percent increase over 2010.

Pacific Gas & Electric is the top ranked utility with 287.7 megawatts of installed solar capacity. Southern California Edison and Sacramento Municipal weigh in with another 138.5 megawatts and 52.8 megawatts respectively.

That gave California utility-installed capacity of 479 megawatts for the year.

But after all it is sunny California. More surprising is New Jersey, which is better, known for its humidity than its sun. Still, Public Service is number two on the list with 181 megawatts and when you add in Atlantic City Electric and Jersey Central Power and there was a total of 295.5 megawatts of installed-utility solar in the Garden State.
Xcel Energy’s Colorado subsidiary, the state’s largest electricity provider, was eighth with 51.3 megawatts.

The Colorado Public Utilities Commission is set to rule Thursday on how much solar Xcel will add in the next two years under its plan to comply with the state’s renewable energy standard. The standard requires 30 percent of the utility’s electricity to be supply by renewable sources. Xcel says it is ready to comply with that well into the next decade and the state’s solar industry is concerned that the solar program will be signifcantly cutback.

Emilie Rusch covers retail and commercial real estate for The Post. A Wisconsin native and Mizzou graduate, she moved to Colorado in 2012. Before that, she worked at a small daily newspaper in South Dakota. It's the one with Mount Rushmore.